Coleen & Jeff | 8.7.10

Oh my, where do I even begin?  Coleen & Jeff's wedding was so picture perfect, it's been difficult for me to narrow down the photos for the blog and the slideshow.

I met Coleen at the Clinique counter at the Polaris Mall Macy's in the early afternoon on her wedding day.   She was as cool as a cucumber even though there were a few minor issues with her make-up (like they couldn't find the sheet with the colors she had picked out...no worries, they finally did:)).  A couple of her bridesmaids kept her company and were ready to do some talking if things didn't work out in Coleen's favor.  It's always good to have friends like these on your wedding day:)

I love getting to spend the entire day with the bride, starting with no make-up on and hair down, and seeing her transformation into the most beautiful woman in the room.  Coleen totally fit the bill, a classic beauty.

Jeff & Coleen are amazing together.  Truly passionate for each other and obviously so.in.love.  Ohmygoodness, the dance moves they were throwin' out at the end of the night were makin' me sweat and wondering if I should avert my eyes:)  I kid, I kid (kinda:))

Anways, enough talking about this amazing wedding, time for you to witness it yourself.  Make sure to check out the slideshow at the end!

Congrats Coleen & Jeff, I'm so happy I could witness your day and capture it forever!

umm hello gorgeous bride!

Grace Lutheran

I love this

look at that talent!!

Song Credit: BabyPaul

Ceremony was held at Grace Lutheran Church in Westerville with a reception at Embassy Suites.

Coleen & Jeff | Sneak Peek

Looking through the photos from Coleen & Jeff's wedding this past weekend I just knew I wanted to give you a sneak peek, but I was having a hard time picking just one photo.

Until I saw this one.  And then my heart melted a bit.

Sunny Meadows Flower Farm

This is a post that I've been meaning to write for a while but am now glad I have some photos to go along with it.

Brad & I met Gretel & Steve over a year ago when they contacted Brad to make their website.  They wanted to barter vegetables for a website.  We love vegetables AND bartering so we gladly agreed.

You see, Gretel & Steve own a 10 acre all natural flower and vegetable farm inside of 270.  This is the 5th summer they've been professional farmers, and seriously, their products are amazing.

The vegetables are DELICIOUS and are tended with love and hard work only.  No pesticides will ever touch them.

We are part of their CSA (community supported agriculture, you can read about it here.)  Basically we get A LOT of vegetables and flowers each week during the growing season.  Pretty good deal for everyone.  We get awesome produce that we know is good for us and local farmers are supported.

Please check out their site OurSunnyMeadows.com to learn more about what they do and get information on a CSA.  You can also buy their produce at various farmer's markets all summer long.

But to get to the meat of the post.  I assume that a lot of you that may happen across this blog are planning or will plan a wedding sometime in the near future.

Sunny Meadows does wedding flowers.  Amazingly well.  I used to work at a flower shop and let me tell you, Gretel & Steve's flowers are so, so much better than anything that gets shipped in from South America.

I was so happy when Gretel contacted me earlier this summer to see if I would be able to help with a wedding she was designing the flowers for.  I really enjoy flower design and it is yet another wonderful creative outlet for me.

I couldn't believe the variety of flowers that Gretel had harvested the morning that we were designing.  All beautiful and all natural.

Anywho, I'll stop talking about them and just let you see for yourself.  Please check out their site (oursunnymeadows.com) and contact Gretel if you are interested in using Sunny Meadows for your flowers.  I promise, you will not be disappointed.

Boutonnière

Bridesmaids bouquets

Zinnia fields

Sunflower fields

Daisies on the left, ornamental grass on the right.

5 years.

Today I have been married 5 years.  My, my what an exciting ride the past 6 and half years has been with Brad.

We met when we were only itty bitty kids, 18 & 19, and freshmen at Ohio University.

don't judge.  it's halloween in athens  .

We always talk about how each year of our marriage has been an entirely different journey.  And apparently an entirely different length of Brad's hair:)

honeymoon in NYC

Year 1: We lived in Athens, Ohio where we partied and attended college (most likely in that order:))

umm yea we had a pet rabbit.  his name was Reggie.

we had only the best halloween costumes

Year 2: We moved to Columbus, Ohio where I attended and graduated from OSU and Brad got a job as a web designer for NBC4.

mmm turkey

Year 3: We sold most of our belongings and packed everything we could fit into a campervan to set off across the United States in search of something different.  The van broke down 2 weeks in but we continued for 6 more months in our Chevy Cavalier.

Yellowstone

outside of Seattle

Year 4: We bought a run-down house in Columbus, found out I was pregnant & got a new puppy all within the same week.  In October we had a beautiful baby boy.

photo by MNR photography

Year 5:  We have now both successfully started our own businesses.  We continue to work on our house and I am amazed everyday at the progress we have made (and also frustrated about the progress we aren't making:)).  We get to watch our son grow and grow.  We get to spend nearly everyday together.  God has truly blessed us so much.

Honestly most days I forget how lucky I am.  Being together this long means you start to take the other one for granted.  But when I stop and think, like really stop and think about our relationship, I cannot believe that I get to spend my life with my best friend.  We make each other laugh all of the time.  We love spending as much time together as we can (we did live in a tiny car together for 6 months:)).  He understands me to a point that I cannot describe, it's probably better than I understand myself.  Never in a million years when I sat on a futon with this long haired kid in Brown Hall 6 1/2 years ago would I have dreamed he would become my life.  But he has.  I love you Brad Pauquette.  

Zak & Jennifer | 7.17.10

I got to spend the better part of the day with Zak & Jennifer as they readied themselves for their wonderful wedding.  I love being able to just hang out with the bride and groom and their family and friends before they get married and capture their day unfolding.

Zak & Jennifer held their ceremony and reception at Scioto Reserve Country Club in Powell, a perfect setting for a wedding.   It was a very warm July day for an outdoor ceremony, but Zak & Jennifer stuck it out for an intimate and beautiful ceremony.

The reception details were beautiful, I loved the bright orange and pink colors that were used throughout.  And oh my, the dancing was out of control! (in a good way:))  There were times during the reception that I couldn't stop laughing due to the dance moves being pulled out.  And did I mention Zak and his bandmates (who happened to be his groomsmen) performed?  Pretty amazing feat to pull on your own wedding day.

Thank you so much Zak & Jennifer.  Your wedding was amazing and I'm so lucky to have gotten to capture it.

Here are a few of my favorites from the day.  There are plenty more in the slideshow at the bottom of the page.

Song credit: Abscondo